The use of tiles for decorative finishes on important buildings can be traced back as far as ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. The fundamentals of the tile makers craft migrated via the peoples of Persia and North Africa, arriving in Portugal and Spain in the 15th century.
In the later part of the 16th century, when the foundations of the cities and towns of modern Mexico were being laid, craftsmen and tile makers from the "Old World" were encouraged to migrate to the "New World" to decorate the newly inaugurated buildings which were springing up at an astonishing rate.
The demand for decorative tiles was so great that these tile making experts were encouraged to pass their knowledge on to local peoples so that tile facades might be used throughout the country. Centres of excellence sprang up throughout Mexico but most notably in the two cities of Puebla and Dolores Hidalgo.
The hand made tiles supplied by The Mexican Hammock Company are from a small, family run workshop in Dolores Hidalgo, central Mexico. The traditional methods have been passed down from generation to generation and have remained essentially unchanged for the last 400 years. We have been working with the same tile makers for more than 40 years. The attention to detail and the quality of the finished tiles are second to none.
View or buy our handmade tiles now.
